Two Indian hotel groups to invest in London

Two Indian hotel groups will be investing tens of millions of pounds in London while an Indian university also plans to set up a campus with 100 million pounds, said the Mayor of London Boris Johnson Wednesday.

Addressing students at the Indian School of Business (ISB) here, he said his visit to India has already started yielding results.

"We were able to rope in two hotel groups that will be investing tens of millions of pounds in London," Johnson said while lauding the role of Indian companies in the development of hospitality sector in London.

The mayor said a fast-growing Indian university also has plans to invest 100 million pounds for setting up a campus of 50,000 people in London.

Johnson pointed out that London-based company Serco would be running bus service in Indore. He was referring to the agreement signed recently by Atal Indore City Transport Company Ltd. (AICTCL) with Serco as operator of the bus service on Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor.

According to the London Mayor's website, leading hotel operator Lalit Suri Hospitality announced that it has acquired the heritage building, St Olave's near Tower Bridge for 15 million pounds. The group would invest another 15 million pounds in restoring and developing it into a five-star luxury hotel.

The Bird Group, one of the largest diversified business conglomerates in India, is keen to invest further to acquire new properties in London, and has created a property management company in London to deal with its own properties and those of third parties. The group had last year purchased Royal Park hotel near Hyde Park upgraded it from a four to a five-star establishment, said the website.

Highlighting the vast opportunities and inviting Indian business to invest in London, Johnson promised all the assistance.